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Anglican bishops gathered for Lambeth Conference service at Canterbury Cathedral

Leaders of the 80-million strong Anglican Communion are joining together for debate and prayer as the business of the 10-yearly Lambeth Conference gets under way.

The 650 bishops will gather on the campus of the University of Kent, in Canterbury, for Bible study followed by talks within medium-sized groups on the Anglican identity.

The conference is set to discuss a range of subjects including the Church’s mission and evangelisation, human sexuality, social justice and issues such as the environment and violence against women.

The Anglican Covenant, a key document on the way forward for the Church following the consecration of the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire in the US and an openly gay man, will also be debated.

On Sunday, the Rt Rev Duleep de Chickera the Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, delivered the sermon during the conference’s opening service at Canterbury Cathedral.

He admitted they were a “wounded community” and faced a complex “crisis” over the gay clergy row, but added there should be “equality for everyone” regardless of sexual orientation.

The bishops will break off deliberations on Thursday to join other faith leaders for a mass walk through central London to highlight the United Nations Millennium Development Goals on world poverty.

The event is likely to be overshadowed by the presence on its fringes of Bishop Robinson, who is the first Anglican bishop to openly live in a gay partnership.

He was not invited to the conference by Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams because of the controversy over his appointment.

But the decision to bar him has failed to prevent a boycott of up to a quarter of the bishops invited, who object to the presence of US bishops responsible for his consecration.